Seaham Tommy Statue

The Seaham Tommy monument is located at Seaham Harbour.

Tommy Monument Seaham

 

Seaham Harbour

Seaham Tommy and War Memorial

Standing 9ft 5ins tall the statue was built out of special corteen steel and was installed to mark the centenary of the start of the Great War. It was only expected to remain in place for three months, but after winning the hearts of hundreds of visitors to the town, it was decided that it would be exhibited permanently.

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

 

HOW ADRIFT IN THE WAKE OF THIS GLORIOUS SLAUGHTER

HE’S SEEN MANY A SOUL CLEANSED IN FILTHY WATER

 

SEEN GODLESS MEN REACH OUT FOR THE BIBLE

AS LEAD TORE THE FLESH FROM BOTH FRIEND AND RIVAL

 

SOON HOME TO JOY AND CELEBRATION OF KIN

DRUNKEN SLAPS ON THE BACK OF FAVOURITE INN

 

BUT HEAVY IN HIS POCKET LIES A SMALL PIECE OF CARD

AND THE NOTE WRITTEN ON IT WILL BREAK A MOTHERS HEART

 

Hermitage Castle Scottish Borders

The Hermitage Castle is situated  in Liddlesdale in the Scottish Borders.

Hermitage Castle

 



Hermitage Castle Liddlesdale Scottish Borders



The Hermitage Castle occupied a key strategic position in the Scottish Borders and was fought over many times by the English and Scottish.

 

 

The original Castle was built on earthworks in the 1240's, this being developed 120 years later with the commencement of the present stone building.





Hermitage Castle Liddesdale Scottish Borders

In the 16th Century the Hermitage was adapted to counter the threat posed by gun powdered artillery by the construction of earthworks  (a Ravelin) in front of the castle and gun holes punched through the thick castle walls

The practice of the time was to lay siege to a castle and fire cannon at the base of the walls with the intention to weaken and then ccreate a breach. The Ravelin would help prevent this.





Hermitage Castle Liddesdale

Hermitage Castle Liddesdale selfie



Hermitage Castle Liddesdale old entrance


In 1603 when James IV of Scotland also became James I of England, the Hermitage lost it's strategic interest, it was abandoned.

Menin Gate 30,000th sounding of Last Post

On the 9th July 2016 the Last Post was sounded at the Menin Gate for the 30,000th time.

Thanks to @GeertBourgeois & @CWGC for their support for #lastpostieper app - See you tonight. http://t.co/C3QJcjBzEQ pic.twitter.com/EVz7VKYvcn

— Last Post Ass. Ieper (@lastpostieper) July 9, 2015

As part of the commemoration of the milestone the Last Post Association have developed an app, issued an brochure and published a book. The main picture for each of these features the Last Post Ceremony of Saturday 6th October 2012. On parade were the Tyneside Scottish Branch Royal Artillery Association, Tyneside Scottish Cadets from Northumbrian ACF, led by the Somme Battlefield Pipe Band.

Op Drum - Menin Gate Ceremony 

 

Last Post Association app entry screen

Last Post app 

Last Post Association Book
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band and Tyneside Scottish on parade

Last Post Association book: The Last Post, 30,000 daily tributes to the fallen of the Great War

Order the book

Last Post Association Supporting Material

Brochure Last Post Association

Exhortation & Kohima

On parade at the Menin Gate
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band and Tyneside Scottish RAA

Tyneside Scottish RAA on parade

On parade at the Menin Gate

 

 

Alnwick - Beating of Retreat

 

On the 18th May 1915 the Tyneside Scottish Brigade paraded on the pastures in front of Alnwick Castle to be inspected by His Grace the Duke Of Northumberland.


TS Brigade inspected by His Grace Duke of Northumberland
18th May 1915

To commemorate the occasion a Beating of Retreat was held in Alnwick Castle. The occasion had an international flavour with the presence of the Somme Battlefield Pipe Band (SBPB) from Peronne in France.  The SBPB commemorate the fallen in both World Wars by each individual member of the band wearing a uniform of a Scottish Regiment.

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band

  

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band
Alnwick Castle

 

Northumbria ACF Cassino Band Marching Display 



The massed Pipes and drums consisted of the Tyneside Scottish Pipe Band, Somme Battlefield Pipe Band, and the Northumbria & Lothian Borders ACF Pipe Bands.

Massed Pipes and Drums enter Alnwick Castle

Massed Pipes and Drums march on

 

Massed Bands Music Display

Highland Dancers

Massed Bands March Off

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band march on

 

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band marching display 

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band Pipers

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band

Somme Battlefield Pipe Band march off

Combined Bands

Massed pipes and Drums form up

Massed Pipes and Drums March on

 

Massed Pipes and Drums Highland Cathedral

 

Video of the Tri-Service Pipes and Drums, Somme Pipes and Drums and 101 Regiments Tyneside Scottish Pipes and Drums playing Highland Cathedral at last nights beating retreat in Alnwick Castle.

Posted by Northumbria Army Cadet Force on Sunday, June 21, 2015

 

Massed Pipes and Drums march off

Cassino Band Beat Retreat



Bovington Tank Museum - WW1 Tanks

Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps.

 

Bovington Tank Museum Dorset

Royal Tank Regiment Memorial
Bovington

The Tank Museum

The stalemate on the Western Front dominated by trenches, fortifications and the machine guns created the problem of how to breach the enemy front line and achieve a breakthrough.

The problem - Fortifications and the Machine Gun

Winston Churchill formed the Admiralty Landships Committee in February 1915, tasking them with developing a war engine able to cross a 5-foot (1.5 m) trench. Initial experiments by an agricultural firm, William Foster & Co. of Lincoln, using imported American tracks failed. William Tritton, a director of William Foster & Co, and Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson, a Royal Naval Reserve Officer, came  up with a new design. On the 9th September 1915 the No 1 Lincoln Machine, nicknamed Little Willie made it's first test run.

Little Willie
Bovington Tank Museum

The trials with Little Willie led to the  development of an effective track system, however the low profile was not adequate for the Western Front. This led to the development of a rhomboid shaped vehicle which would become the go forward design in World War One.

The shape of the vehicle was necessary as a long track was required to enable the crossing the wide trenches prevalent on the Western Front battlefields. The guns were at the side in sponsons. German defensive parapets could be up to 4 feet high, a turret on top would have been top heavy when moving across the defences.  The prototype was ready by December 1915, and the term tank began to be used in order to maintain secrecy and disguise it's true purpose.

The first tank was demonstrated in early 1916 and impressed David Lloyd George, Minister of Munitions who arranged for his ministry to take responsibility for their production.  The first order for tanks was placed on 12 February 1916.

British Mark I Tank

 

On the 15th September 1916, the tank was used  in battle for the first time at the Battle of Flers Courcellete on the Somme.



British Mark I Tank
Bovington Tank Museum

Tanks were classified as Male, mounting 6 pounder guns, or Females mounting machine guns.  Minor improvements were made to the first tanks leading to the introduction of the Mark II in January 1917.

British Mark II Tank
Bovington Tank Museum

British Mark II Tank
Bovington Tank Museum

 

Tanks would have a crew of 8. A commander, driver, two gearsman, two gunners and two loaders.

 

Tank Commander





Gearsman





 

The Mark IV tank, which was an up armoured Mark II went into production in May 1917, going into action at the Battle of Messines Ridge in June 1917.

British Mark IV Tank
Bovington Tank Museum

The first use of large numbers of tanks was the Battle of Cambrai 20th November to 7th December 1917.

Battle of Cambrai

 

Battle of Cambrai

 A new design was introduced in 1918, the Mark V which was first used in the Battle of Hamel in July, and they were used during other battles during the 100 Day Offensive. Some went to Russia when the allies intervened in the Russian Civil War in 1919.

British Mark V Tank
Bovington Tank Museum



The first German tank, the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V did not go into production until October 1917. It was equipped with six 7.92 mm MG08 machine guns and a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon, with a crew of 18.

German Sturmpanzerwagen A7V Tank
Bovington Tank Museum